GRUDGE MATCH

WILD ACCUSATIONS

The Georgian will remain as head coach until 2021 at least after agreeing a new deal. He wants to recruit High Performance Unit graduates such as Lee and Kenneth Egan for his coaching staff.
Lee added: “I would like to help him if I could.

“I think I have a lot to offer, especially now with the amateur boxing becoming more pro-styled and with all the experience I have as an amateur and now as a professional.

“There’s talk that they might move to five rounds, maybe eight rounds, and have less participants and longer rounds. You can see they want to compete with the professional ranks.

“I would like to help but some time in the future when it’s right, maybe not this year.

“I don’t need an official role, I’ll do it in any way I can.”

A High Performance Director will be appointed in 2017 to oversee the unit and the new man or woman will have a big say in future appointments of coaching staff. Major medallists such as Katie Taylor, Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes have left since Rio but Lee feels they can be replaced.

He has tipped Belfast flyweight Brendan Irvine to lead the charge and would not initially be looking for a fee for coaching sessions.

The 2004 Olympian continued: “I’d be willing to help. If I was coming in for a day or two here and there I wouldn’t. I want to help Irish boxing.

“Even though we lost Michael, Katie, Paddy, maybe there are other fighters who are going to turn pro, but there’s still a lot of talent that we should be looking at now, giving them the best chance we can.

“Brendan Irvine stands out now. He’s got the experience of the Olympics behind him, that’s invaluable. He should become a leader now.

“He’s been there, he’s competed at the highest level, he knows what it takes to be at the highest level.”

The IABA’s Strategic Plan has five aims — to increase participation by 15 per cent, to establish more robust corporate governance, to communicate more effectively, to increase and diversify income streams to 25 per cent of overall income and to strive to be in the top five in the world rankings and be one of the top three countries with boxers qualified for Tokyo 2020.

Lee said: “It’s a comprehensive plan that covers all aspects, top to bottom from grassroots all the way up to elite level.

“The whole thing needs to come up to the highest standard. Boxing is Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, it should be run that way.”